Do we all crave feedback?

C

CoffeeWithMonkeys

Guest
Just me?
Maybe this should have gone in AH not here because I feel a ramble coming on.

Not that I expect feedback, but it is a nice way of knowing, hey I like where this is going please continue.
My latest chapter has gotten nothing :/ I was hoping for at least a few comments saying Wow that was a lot of things going on and I'm not sure I like xx happening, but I really enjoyed where xxx is going.
But so far crickets, which I guess could mean everything you did was fine please continue with what's going on, or OMG I hate this series now I'm out.

But I'm sitting here wondering...submit chapter 9 or bow out gracefully.

And yes I know...write for yourself...but it is nice to know someone else is enjoying seeing inside your brain.
 
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Positive feedback is always nice but bottom line... I write for me!
 
I originally wrote my story for me because it was fun and exciting. But when I discovered that I could share it with other people, I poured a lot of time and effort into getting it ready to publish. Having other people read it is almost as intimate as having sex with someone. I want to reach out to everyone and say, 'Was it good for you, too?' and then ask them questions about why or why not. I think the majority of readers take it in but prefer to remain anonymous. But I do understand wanting feedback. Creativity is a spark that craves to ignite an inferno. (Hey that was pretty good) LOL. I think the truth is that the craving is insatiable and we have to be content with the few who are willing to reach out.

My first story is titled, The Indelicated Doll
 
I don't depend on feedback as to whether I continue a story or not. I have several stories that are ideal for a follow-on or another chapter, but I'm the only one who influences whether or not I continue.

Intelligent feedback, though, I think we all enjoy getting that.
 
I don't depend on feedback as to whether I continue a story or not. I have several stories that are ideal for a follow-on or another chapter, but I'm the only one who influences whether or not I continue.

Intelligent feedback, though, I think we all enjoy getting that.

I'll continue the story, most is already written but was written with a younger MC so I have to make minor changes to each chapter before I submit them, but the lack of feedback makes it seem like no one is reading so not really worth the effort to change the story and submit it here.

I guess what I meant by continue was continue submitting it here, not continue the story, I wrote this one a while back and it's fairly complete, it's just one that could go on indefinitely.
 
i always like feedback, and I have been lucky to get very little negative comment, and most of that has been helpful, not hurtful.

I have a few readers who have gone into real depth in critiquing my writing through email and private message. It has been very helpful in organizing my own thoughts about the direction I am going in with my continuing series.
 
I originally wrote my story for me because it was fun and exciting. But when I discovered that I could share it with other people, I poured a lot of time and effort into getting it ready to publish. Having other people read it is almost as intimate as having sex with someone. I want to reach out to everyone and say, 'Was it good for you, too?' and then ask them questions about why or why not. I think the majority of readers take it in but prefer to remain anonymous. But I do understand wanting feedback. Creativity is a spark that craves to ignite an inferno. (Hey that was pretty good) LOL. I think the truth is that the craving is insatiable and we have to be content with the few who are willing to reach out.

My first story is titled, The Indelicated Doll

YES to what I bolded. My friends that don't write don't understand how personal writing is, but that is a good way to describe it.

I have your story up right now, going to read it today. Looks like you are getting a lot of feedback! :D

Here's a link for anyone else that is curious as I was.
https://www.literotica.com/s/the-indelicated-doll
 
i always like feedback, and I have been lucky to get very little negative comment, and most of that has been helpful, not hurtful.

I have a few readers who have gone into real depth in critiquing my writing through email and private message. It has been very helpful in organizing my own thoughts about the direction I am going in with my continuing series.

Yeah usually the same. On this series I've gotten a lot of emails, detailed emails, about the series and for this chapter absolutely nothing.
Makes me question if it's worth the bother or rewriting, proofreading, editing, submitting.
 
Yeah usually the same. On this series I've gotten a lot of emails, detailed emails, about the series and for this chapter absolutely nothing.
Makes me question if it's worth the bother or rewriting, proofreading, editing, submitting.

I went through that with a recent chapter. Not only did it get almost no comment, public or private, but the scores were lower than my average, even though I thought I'd done a fine job with it.

But the next chapter got much more comment and the highest score in the series. There are too many factors involved in how and why people respond to be discouraged by an occasional lackluster response.
 
My attitude about feedback on this site is to enjoy it but not expect it. That way I appreciate the upside and don't sweat it if feedback is lacking or if it's derogatory or worthless. I think it's great to know that I've turned somebody on, or that a reader appreciates my writing style or my characters. I appreciate and learn from intelligent criticism, as well.

Literotica is the first forum I've used to publish fiction. I've been doing it for two years and I still think it's a thrill to see and read how I've connected with readers.
 
I went through that with a recent chapter. Not only did it get almost no comment, public or private, but the scores were lower than my average, even though I thought I'd done a fine job with it.

But the next chapter got much more comment and the highest score in the series. There are too many factors involved in how and why people respond to be discouraged by an occasional lackluster response.

It's so frustrating to hear nothing!
I was expecting some sort of feedback, good and bad, on this chapter because it made one of my kids so mad and she even cried when I read it to her.
So yeah it's weird to get nothing.

ANd of course now that I've said something about it someone left me feedback. Like really shitty feedback, LOL!!! Has ZERO to do with my story :/
 
I went through that with a recent chapter. Not only did it get almost no comment, public or private, but the scores were lower than my average, even though I thought I'd done a fine job with it.

But the next chapter got much more comment and the highest score in the series. There are too many factors involved in how and why people respond to be discouraged by an occasional lackluster response.

Your second to last chapter went live in the middle of a contest, I think - it could have been as simple as that - your regulars glutted with content. As you say, who knows?
 
Your second to last chapter went live in the middle of a contest, I think - it could have been as simple as that - your regulars glutted with content. As you say, who knows?

Exactly. It can be as simple as the day of the week you go live. I actually held back a bit on the most recent one so that it would not be published a day or two before the election.
 
It seems to come down to luck, honestly. I think of it this way, since I have multiple stories with highish ratings and ZERO comments: Sometimes if the story was good they are too busy wiping off or washing their hands/toys to bother to comment. By the time that's done they have forgotten about you. 😂
 
The first thing that comes to mind in your case is; By Part 9, most people have already commented before. It's only those who have been with it from the start that are still with you. I know I feel a little awkward if I comment too much on a story series...sort feel like I'm being too pushy, or something. This could be why the comments have slackened off on yours.

In regard to your question; When I posted my first story here, I can't remember if I even knew comments were possible. But now, I tend to write things that I hope will speak to a target audience. When I get even one comment from a person that was touched or moved by it, I'm satisfied that my effort wasn't wasted. But, the more comments, the better I feel about my insight into a certain human condition and that is obviously rewarding.

I do wish readers could understand how much we feed off the good energy the comments bring...but, wishes ;)
 
It seems to come down to luck, honestly. I think of it this way, since I have multiple stories with highish ratings and ZERO comments: Sometimes if the story was good they are too busy wiping off or washing their hands/toys to bother to comment. By the time that's done they have forgotten about you. 😂
I demand comments. Good luck with that. Sometimes I finish a story arc with The End? and the only comment is NO! MORE! MORE! But for guaranteed feedback, I need only post in LW.
 
I haven't had anything published yet but, I think I need comments. Ultimately this is about sharing my most intimate thoughts. Spilling your deepest and most emotional thoughts and not getting comments seems like torture to me. One might as well be howling at the moon. I know it'll happen because I know before I found Literotica, years ago, I feasted on the stories over at Nifty and never once commented. Thinking back I feel like someone had polished a gem to sparkle and placed it in my loins to thrill me, only for me to enjoy the thrill and not even thank them. I do hope I can get lots of detailed feedback and give it as well.
 
I haven't had anything published yet but, I think I need comments. Ultimately this is about sharing my most intimate thoughts. Spilling your deepest and most emotional thoughts and not getting comments seems like torture to me. One might as well be howling at the moon. I know it'll happen because I know before I found Literotica, years ago, I feasted on the stories over at Nifty and never once commented. Thinking back I feel like someone had polished a gem to sparkle and placed it in my loins to thrill me, only for me to enjoy the thrill and not even thank them. I do hope I can get lots of detailed feedback and give it as well.

It would be nice if you would post a link in the story feedback forum when you've published.
 
I haven't had anything published yet but, I think I need comments. Ultimately this is about sharing my most intimate thoughts. Spilling your deepest and most emotional thoughts and not getting comments seems like torture to me. One might as well be howling at the moon. I know it'll happen because I know before I found Literotica, years ago, I feasted on the stories over at Nifty and never once commented. Thinking back I feel like someone had polished a gem to sparkle and placed it in my loins to thrill me, only for me to enjoy the thrill and not even thank them. I do hope I can get lots of detailed feedback and give it as well.

What MelissaBaby said. You'll get longer, more meaningful feedback by seeking it in this forum than you will by waiting for comments at the end of your story, although you likely will get more unalloyed praise in short comments.
 
@CoffeeWithMonkeys I had a look at the first chapter of your story and it seemed good.

It's my first time back to the forums in a while, and in the meantime I've been working on different kinds of content. Still, no matter what content you're working on, a bit of positive affirmation is a welcome thing.

On the other hand, you sort of have to be your own Reader #0. It should be enough that you write a story and that you're happy enough with it to share it. Getting readers from the site commenting on it is a nice bonus and can give you some insights that you might not have thought of yourself, but if you're confident enough to put it out there then that is an affirmation right there.

Being quite honest, I find that it's sometimes a relief to finally get a bit of content out there after tinkering with it and watching it doing its thing for so long. Its like, finally, someone else can be the guinea pig. :)

I think you should always be looking to the next thing that you want to write. That might mean that you end up giving the readers a new chapter in an existing story anyway, or it might be something else. When I have quite a few other things that I'm creating anew or updating, I tend to be thinking less about whether one thing will be received well, and more about how I can stay on track (I have a todo list, so that helps).

Anyway, best of luck with it.
 
Although I haven't submitted my stories yet, I read the feedback on other stories to get a sense of what the readers enjoyed and why. Even though I do volunteer editing I have my own editor that lets me know when I screwed up.
 
I've only been writing erotica for 8ish months and I craved feedback from the very beginning. Very few people in my personal life know I write the kinds of stories I do.
Only one person who knows me has read something I wrote, "it was really good" without any follow up details told me she lied.

Anonymity has set me free. No one needs to know who I am to enjoy my writing and since I've learned to edit my own work, anon comments have been 100% positive. Of course, someone with a username giving feedback feels twice as good.

Asking for feedback within the story can sometimes help. I did that with my best work so far and got quite a lot of feedback and even some REAL constructive critisicm. I posted the same story on another site and since I received no feedback on anything else, I wrote that it would be my last post on that site if people didn't speak up. It's up to 251,859 views over there, here it's 22,990, yet somehow I received more feedback on literotica.

So yeah I got more attention on the other site, but I prefer this one because of the more varied kinds of feedback and the fact that I don't have to make threats to get it.
 
I have gotten some feedback finally, and I'm glad. I do like feedback even if people don't always agree with the direction I'm going. I mean even if they think it's horrible what I did, at least I wrote it well enough to make them feel something.
Remember when Misery was killed off and Annie got so pissed? Yeah that was good writing. Maybe was a bad idea and everyone hated it, but if you write and it gets a reaction then I always figure it was written well.

I'm hoping to finish the next chapter rewrite and get it submitted tonight or tomorrow, then start the next one.
 
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